Pyramiding Descriptors Contributing Drought Stress Tolerance to Six Polyembryonic Rootstocks of Mango (Mangifera indica L.)

A better understanding of the drought stress on mango varieties is essential in an effort to keep the production and the quality of mango to meet the growing demand globally. Since drought stress has been one of the major abiotic stress affecting both production and quality of mango, we studied to understanding the drought stress phenomenon in mango, especially to evaluate the descriptors for drought stress tolerance in mango rootstocks. Irrigation was withhold for fifteen days in six polyembryonic mango rootstocks namely ‘Goa’, ‘Vellaikulamban’, ‘Nekkare’, ‘Starch’, ‘Kitchner’ and ‘M 13-1’ and then rehydrated up to five days. Morphological parameters, membrane stability index (MSI), wax content, chlorophyll content, gas exchange attributes were recorded at 0, 15th and 5th day of rehydration. MSI, chlorophyll content and gas exchange parameters such as intercellular CO2, stomatal conductance, net photosynthesis, and transpiration rate were reduced while cuticular wax content increased in all the polyembryonic mango rootstocks under drought stress and after rehydration same were recovered back up to greater extent. Rootstock ‘M 13-1’ showed more capacity to recover under drought stress as compared to five others rootstocks of mango. Therefore, rootstock ‘M 13-1’ can be recommended for scion varieties for frequent drought prone areas for taking sustainable mango production.